Trolley bucket installation



June 9, 1931. H. E. HALLENBE CK 0 TROLLEY BUCKET INSTALLATION Filed May 9. 1950 u; \g N v INVENTOR Y BY 0 W 0%.- 4, ATTORNEYS Patented June 9, 1931.

I EUNHTEDHSTATES PATENT HALLENBECK, or Henson, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR. TO e IFroRn-woon M PANY, or HUDSON, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION onnnw YORK HAROLD E.

oFFlcn TROLLEY BUCKET IN'smALLA'rIoN Application filed. May 9, 1930. Serial No. 451,038.

This invention relates to trolley buckets and, among other objects, aims toprovide a trolley bucket installation with a counter weighted cable for retarding fall of the bucket should the main hoist cable break, and also aims to arrange the cables in such a way that the bucket has a smoother operation and is under better control at most stages of the operation. o

Referring to the accompanying drawlng showing more or less diagrammatically the preferred embodiment of the invention, the single figure is'an elevation of a part of a trolley bucket installation, the means for effecting traverse of the bucket being omitted.

Because of the heavy expense of repeated handling and long distance hauling of coal and other heavy materials, there has been a distinct trend in recentyears toward the 2S establishment of neighborhood? yards, that is to say, yards located in various sections of a city for the storage and retailselling of coal, coke, gravel, sand and the like. .The more modern yards are especially designed to be run with a minimum of labor, being served from a railroad siding and so arranged that the coal or other material may be dumped from the railroad car and carried by a traversing hoist bucket to storage to bins, from which wagons or trucks are easily loaded by gravity. See in this connection Fig. 1 of the pending applicationof W. H. Towne, Serial No. 146,890 and Fig. 2 of the pending applicationof I-L V. Harding, Se-

2-5 rial No.144,121, both of whichhave been assigned to the assignee of the present application. I

An installation of the character described is hoisted after discharging its lead on the pile. At such times, the hoist cable may be twisted through many turns because of rot-ation of the bucket, which necessarily twists the hoist cable between the trolley sheaves and the sheave on the bail of the bucket. Such twisting and kinking is very destructive to the cable and may cause it to break immediately.

In accordance with the invention, I'minimize the possibility of damage to the bucket and other parts and'injury to employees resulting frombreakage of the'hoist cable by employing a second cable which is connected with a counterweight in a novel manner and which cooperates with the power actuated hoist cable,-as will .be explained below, to

effect novel and useful results, particularly making the operation of the bucket smoother and minimizing tipping of the bucket, which. would cause the twisting heretofore men'- tioned. I V

Referring particularly to the drawing, there is'shown'a trolley bucket 1," preferably of the construction shown in the Bennett Patent.1,741,123. The bucket 1 is suspended from a hoist cable 2 by means of a sheave 3 pivoted to "the bail 4 of the bucket. The

oist cable 2 is dead-ended as at 5 and is guided by sheaves 6, 7, preferably all sus pended from the monorail 9, or its supports (notshown). The other endof the hoist cable 2'is wrapped around the hoist drum 10, which is driven by an electric motor, not

shown, either automatically or manually controlled. The monorail 9 extends the length of the'installation over the bins or silos in which the material is stored. It provides a track for the trolley 11, said trolley being suspended from hangers 12 which are secured to the'axlesof rollers '13 which run along the opposite lower flanges of the monorail 9.

The parts so far described are standard and form no part of the present invention except as they cooperate with the novel elements to be described and claimed.

The second cable, indicated at 14, sup ports a heavy counterweight 15 of any desired construction, preferably by means of a sheave 16 mounted on the upper end of the counterweight. The cable 14 is secured at one end to the hoist drum 10 and is Wrapped around said hoist drum in a direction opposite to the one in which the cable 2 is Wrapped. Guide sheaves 17 and 18 are provided for the cable 14 between the counterweight, 15 and the hoist drum 10. Preferably the sheave 17 together with a similar guide sheave 19, is mounted on a bracket 20 which is supported by a hanger 21 upon the monorail 9. Preferably, the hanger 21 and the bracket 20-are offset relative to the monorail so that the trolley 11 may travel along that part of the monorail without interference with the sheaves17 and 19 or theirsupporting members. T i

The cable 14 passes around a sheave 22 at one end of the monorail, preferably on the sameaxis as the sheave 6 but having a smaller diameter thansheave 6. From the sheave 22 v the cable 14 passes around a sheave 23 rotatably mounted on the trolley 11, thence around thesheave 24 which is on the axis of the bucket sheave 3, being likewise pivoted to the bucket bail, thence around sheave 25' on the trolley and to the dead-end 26. The hoist cable passes around trolley sheaves 27 and 28 which are on the same axes as the sheaves 23 and 25 respectively, but which are of smaller diameter, as shown. On the other hand, the bucket sheave 3 for the hoist cable is of larger diameter'than the bucket sheave 24 about whichthe cable l l'passes.

From theabove it will be seen that the cables 2 and 14 pass around four pairs of sheaves, namely, the sheaves 6 and 22 at one end of the monorail, the'sheaves 27 and 23 at one end of the trolley, the sheaves 3' and 24 on the bucket, and sheaves 28 and 25 on the other end of the trolley. In each pair,

1 the sheaves are ofunequal diameter and the til cables alternate in passing around the smaller and larger of the several pairs of sheaves. Thus, at one end of the monorail, the cab1e2 passes around the larger sheave 6, but passes around the smaller sheave 27 on the trolley, around the larger sheave 3 on the bucket, and around the smaller sheave 28 at the other end of the trolley. The peculiar arrangement of sheaves, while not indispensable, is a desirable one, as it' minimizes twisting. of the cables, especially if the sheaves on the trolley andbucket be spaced apart a short distance so as to provide, in effect, four spaced lines supporting the bucket on the trolley. .Preferably, the

in connection with trolley bucket systems because they necessitate less power in operating and also insure smoother operation and far better control of the bucket when descending with a load. However, known arrangements of counterweighted cables have been entirely different from the one described in this application and have imposed heavy stresses on the cables and also on the drum. According to the present invention, the counterweight is effective directly on the bucket itself as well as on the drum, and thus relieves some of' the load on the hoist cable and on the drum. In one particular installa tion, the counterweight cable reeving described in this application would relieve a stress of 1000 pounds on each cable and will relieve the drumof 2000 pounds stress. This will permit the use of a smaller hoist cable with the same i'actorof safety and the use of a smaller hoist cable increases the longevity of the cablebecause, as is well known, the life of a cable is determined largely by the amount of twisting and bending to which it is subjected; a cable of smaller diameter'being less injured by bending over a sheave of a given size than is a. larger cable. Furthermore,

'lesseningthe stresses imposed on the hoist drum will minimize bearing troubles and will even make'possible the use of smaller and less expensive bearings. 1

The described cable reeving provides a means for suspending the bucket from a counterweight should the main hoist cable fail. An empty bucket cannot fall with the described arrangement, but it will slowly descend, as the weight of an empty bucket is greater than the effective weight of the coun terweight'. A full bucket will descend much more rapidly in case the hoist cable breaks, but its descent will not be accelerated as in the case of free gravity fall and very little damage will occur. However, usually the hoist cable breaks with an empty bucket,because it is the empty bucket which twists the cable, and it is the twisting which is hardest on the cable and most frequently breaks it. The particular manner of suspending the bucket by means of two cables passing over three pairs of sheaves, two of which pairs are on the trolley, will minimize twisting of the bucket -'after' dischargeof the load. The invention also makes for smoother action or" the bucket at the time of discharge, minimizing tipping of the bucket because the counterweight will straighten up the bucket as soon as it starts to tip or lean sidewise on the pivots of the bail. The elimination of tipping of the bucket is mostdesirable, as such tipping usually starts twisting of the cable.

Traverse of the bucket along the monorail is effected by'mea-ns of a traverse cable 29,

' bination of a track; a trolley movable along the opposite ends of which are made fast to the ends of trolley 11, as shown, and which is driven by a motor driven drum as shown in Figs. 1 and 2 of the above-identified application of H. V. Harding.

Obviously, the present invention is not restricted to the particular embodiment thereof herein shown and described. A number of changes may be made, as for instance, securing the counterweight to the end of cable 14 instead of dead-ending it to the monorail. Such an arrangement, while within the-scope of some of the claims, is much less desirable because it would necessitate a counterweight twice as heavy as in the illustrative arrangement, and the counterweight would have to travel twice as far, in fact, as far as the bucket itself.

What I claim is 1. In a trolley bucket installation, the combination of a bucket; a trolley; two cables for supporting the bucket from the trolle* both cables being secured to a fixed member at one end; a counterweight acting on one cable to maintain a tension thereon so as nearly to overcome the weight of the empty bucket; and a hoist drum; both cables being wrapped around said hoist drum, but in opposite directions.

2. In a trolley bucket installation, the comthe track; a bucket carried by the trolley two cables for supporting the bucket from the trolley; both cables being separately deadended at one end of the track; two pairs 0 sheaves on t-hetrolley for said cables; a pair of sheaves on the bucket for said cables; guiding sheaves for both cables supported adja-.

cent the track; a counterweight supported by asheave from one of the cables; and a. hoist drum about which both cables are wrapped, but in opposite directions. I

3. In a trolley bucket installation, the com-. bination of a bucket; a trolley; two cables for supporting the bucket from the trolley; a pair of sheaves of unequal diameter at each end of the trolley, the sheaves of each pair being spaced apart laterally of the trolley but rotating about the same axis; a pair of sheaves of unequal diameter supported on the bucket; one of the cables being passed about the larger sheave at each end of the trolley and. about the smaller sheave on the bucket; the other cable being passed about the smaller sheave at each end of the trolley and about the larger sheave on the bucket; a counterweight suspended from one of said cables; and a hoist drum about which one end of each cable is wrapped, but in opposite directions.

4:. In a trolley bucket installation, the combination of a track; a trolley movable along the track; a bucket carried by the trolley; two cables for supporting the bucket from the trolley; both cables being separately dead-ended at one end of the track; two

pairs of sheaves on the trolley for said cables; a pair of sheaveson the bucket for said cables guiding sheaves for both cables supported adjacent the track; a counterweight supported by a sheave from one of the cables; and a hoist drum about which both cables are wrapped, but in opposite directions; the sheaves on the trolley being spaced apart laterally as well as longitudinally of the trolley and the sheaves on the bucket being likewise spaced apart laterally, so that the two cables provide four spaced bights supporting the bucket and lessening the tendency of the bucket to turn about a verical axis under certain operating conditions.

5; In a trolley bucket installation, the combination of a bucket having a bail; two cables supporting the same; power-actuated means for automaticallypaying out one of the cables as the other is reeled in; a counterweight suspended from one of the cables; both cables passing under sheaves carried by the bail of the bucket and over sheaves carried by the trolley; both cables being made fast at one end to a fixed member.

6. In a trolley bucket installation, the com-. bination of a bucket having a'bail; a pair of sheaves on the bail rotating about the same axis but spaced apart laterally a trolley two pairs of sheaves supported on the trolley and spaced longitudinally thereof, the sheaves of each pair rotating on the same, axis and spaced apart laterally of the trolley the same distance as the sheaves on the bail of the bucket; a pair 15 of cables passing around said sheaves; and

ower-driven means to wind up said cables alternately as-the drum is rotated in opposite directions; the arrangement being such that as the bucket descends, the counterweight as-' cends, and vice versa.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto affixed my signature.

HAROLD E. HALLENBEOK. 

